The Digital Photo Guy

Adding Catchlights to Eyes

When we left off last week, Tylor’s pupils had been darkened and the iris lightened with color restored. But, as anyone can see (below), there’s still something missing. That “something” is catchlights, those sparkles in the eyes that add life to otherwise dull photos.

In this video, we’ll add not one but two catchlights in each eye. When you see how this works, you’ll agree that it’s much better than a single catchlight.

Sadly, Tylor, my favorite pin-up model, has moved to Washington DC to live with her Dad so I won’t have anymore opportunities to work with her. Best wishes to you, Tylor. I know you’ll do well wherever you are and whatever you do.

Anyone wanting to contact her for paid modeling work, shoot me an e-mail. Click to read more

The Eyes Are the Windows to the Soul

Today, we’ll post Part 1 of 2 posts about retouching eyes to add intensity and “pop” to any portrait including those where the photographer messed up! Here’s a photo of my favorite model, Tylor. I made this photo at the beach on one of those days when everything seemed to go wrong. Tylor’s eyes were lost in the shadows and her smile seemed lifeless (below left). After bit of Photoshop Elements magic, I brought back her eyes and the photo is almost acceptable. I think you’ll agree the retouched photo is better because Tylor’s eyes are alive with sparkle.

My technique is a distillation of several classes and workshops. Some were overly convoluted while others were too simplified. I’ve tried to walk a line between complexity and finesse so the end result is convincing but achievable.

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Spot and Expanded AF Points

These two features seem diametrically opposed in terms of usefulness. Spot AF is an extra small AF Point inside a normal AF Point while AF Point Expansion increases the size of the AF Point by selecting points around it.

As seen in the above left photo, Spot AF uses a smaller area inside the normal AF Point. The actual Spot AF Point is actually a bit larger than the small box but stll smaller then the large box (did I just write that?).

As you can imagine, that tiny AF area can be handy for macro photography. How many times have you tried to focus on a very tiny detail but couldn’t be sure you got it until the photo was on the screen? Click to read more

Getting the Best Out of Your Canon 7D Auto Focus

The Canon 7D has turned out to be one of the most capable Canon mid-range dSLRs ever. It’s not just new, it’s revolutionary in mid-range dSLRs. It has so many new capabilities that it’s difficult to pick just one or two as my favorites. One feature I apprecate the most is its new AF system.

Anyone who keeps up with things dSLR knows about the new 19-point AF system. Compared to the older 9-point system, 19 points is a huge improvement. It allows precise selection of just the right AF point for just about any scenario. If that were the only improvement, it would be big but Canon didn’t stop there.

My personal favorite new feature within the 19-Point AF system is the new Zone AF. Click the image below to see the different zones that can be selected.

Using the standard Canon AF Point Selection button on the back top right and the new M-Fn (Multi-Function) button, I can cycle through all the AF Area Selection Modes I’ve enabled. Yes, you heard that correctly. I can choose which of the 5 AF Area Modes to enable so I don’t waste time cycling through unneeded modes. 

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Questioning Conventional Wisdom

We all know that for maximum post-processing flexibility, we should shoot in RAW. Unfortunately, there are circumstances that force us to shoot in JPEG. For example, a Canon T2i is limited to 6 RAW files in Continuous Mode before the buffer is full and the camera stops to digest the data. At 3.7 fps, that’s just 1.6 seconds of action. If you’re trying to capture lots of action, the camera may not be ready for the next burst. In this situation, it might be better to use JPEG.

Conventional wisdom says, with JPEG, the trick is to nail white balance in-camera because it’s messier to make corrections once the in-camera processor has mucked with the data. Besides, who wants to adjust WB for dozens of photos.

This week, I tested conventional wisdom by scrounging around for some old jpegs with bad WB. I used 3 different techniques for adjusting WB and I think you might be surprised at the results.